IBM i Hosting and AS400 Hosting: What Buyers Need to Compare
IBM i hosting can mean rented Power capacity, a managed operating system, application support, or disaster recovery. Separate those jobs before you compare a monthly quote.
IBM i hosting moves an IBM i workload onto Power infrastructure you do not own. That can remove a hardware purchase and reduce the work inside your data center. It does not automatically include the daily work or the recovery plan. The useful first move is to make every provider name which jobs sit inside the quote.
Four IBM i Hosting Offers That Sound Similar
Start by identifying the offer before comparing its price.
| Offer | What You Receive | What You Still Need to Confirm |
|---|---|---|
IBM Power Virtual Server |
Configurable virtual IBM Power capacity in IBM Cloud for IBM i, AIX, or Linux workloads. |
IBM says the customer remains responsible for maintaining and updating the operating system. Confirm management, backup, recovery, and support separately. |
Managed IBM i hosting |
Power capacity plus an agreed layer of IBM i administration and monitoring from a provider. |
The contract must name the daily work and response times. It must also name backup checks, patch work, and escalation. |
Dedicated IBM Power hosting |
A physical or reserved Power environment in a provider facility. |
Confirm hardware ownership and licensing. Then confirm maintenance, replacement capacity, and the refresh plan. |
Disaster recovery hosting |
Recovery capacity and data protection for an existing production IBM i system. |
Confirm the recovery time and recovery point. Then confirm test frequency, network access, and who declares a disaster. |
A quote for capacity is not a quote for a managed environment. IBM states that Power Virtual Server customers maintain, update, and manage the IBM i operating system unless another provider takes that work under contract. That one responsibility can separate two quotes that looked identical on the first page.
Know What You Are Moving Before You Price It
The hosting decision starts with the current system. Collect the facts that determine compatibility and workload size before a provider recommends a destination.
- Machine type, model, serial number, and processor generation
- IBM i release plus the program temporary fix level
- Processor use, memory use, storage, and growth
- The business application plus every outside connection it depends on
- Backup method plus the last successful restore test
- High availability and disaster recovery requirements
- Daily support hours plus the longest outage the business can accept
Older IBM i releases can change the whole project. IBM currently lists IBM i 7.3 or later on Power9 and Power10 Power Virtual Server systems. Power11 starts at IBM i 7.4. An older workload may need an operating system upgrade before the move, which adds application testing and licensing work to the budget.
Put Every IBM i Hosting Responsibility in Writing
The monthly number matters after responsibility is clear. A lower quote can simply mean the provider removed work and left it with your team. Build a responsibility table with one named owner for each line.
- Power infrastructure and hardware replacement
- IBM i licensing and software entitlement
- Operating system updates and program temporary fixes
- Monitoring and incident response
- Backups and restore testing
- High availability and disaster recovery tests
- Security administration and audit evidence
- RPG, COBOL, ERP, EDI, and other application support
- Migration, cutover, rollback, and post-move support
If a task has no named owner in the quote, assume your team still owns it. Ask the provider to correct the responsibility table before you compare totals.
Compare IBM i Hosting Cost as a Complete Environment
Do not compare a monthly hosting fee with last year's hardware invoice. Compare the complete environment over the same term. Build the total from capacity plus IBM i licensing and storage. Add network use and backups. Then add monitoring, support, migration, and recovery testing. Compare that total with an owned system that includes maintenance, facilities, staff time, and its next refresh.
Ask for a first-year total and a steady-state annual total. The first number shows migration and setup. The second shows what the environment costs after the move is finished. A useful quote separates both instead of blending them into one attractive monthly number.
Test Recovery Before You Trust the Hosting Plan
A backup is not a recovery plan until somebody restores it. Ask what gets restored during a test, how often the test happens, and who confirms the business application works afterward. IBM's migration guidance treats backup plus high availability and disaster recovery as planning decisions, not features to assume.
The same test applies to a planned move. The server is not migrated when it starts. The move is finished when users can work and integrations run. Reports must print. Backups must complete. The support team must own the new environment.
Choose the IBM i Hosting Conversation You Actually Need
Use the IBM Power options page when you are still deciding between hosting and owned hardware. Use the AS400 support page when the immediate problem is system administration, maintenance, or an application risk. When hosting is already the decision, take the system facts and responsibility table to providers that can price the same job.
Bring the current system profile, the support responsibility table, and the recovery target. That gives each provider the same job to price and gives you quotes that can be compared honestly.